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Phil Severs
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Check this out:
http://www.downtownflint.com:8080/df/FMPro?-db=content.pro&-format=global%5farticle%5fdetail.htm&-lay=web&-sortfield=category&-sortfield=article%5fid&status=active&home%5fflag=yes&-recid=37078&-find=
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August 2006
Community Voice
by Dale Weighill
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
And so it is with Flint.
If Gandhi were a Flintstone, he would point out that this city has substantial assets and resources that remain untapped, underutilized, and undervalued. Chief among these is the people of this city. Imagine, for example, if every man, woman, and child in Flint would volunteer an hour of their time each week to improve the community. Call it the “One-Hour Campaign.” People could volunteer through formal organizations, such as a school or a local nonprofit agency. Or, they could simply do something for a neighbor, like running errands for an elderly person or cutting that same person’s grass. Another idea: What if employers in the city, including city and county government, offered their workers one hour of paid time off each week to volunteer, especially in local schools or as mentors for young people in Flint? Just imagine the results: cleaner parks and public spaces, better-educated children, stronger neighborhood watches, a closer community.
These acts of good citizenship, multiplied across the community through thousands of people, are what Gandhi envisioned. Cynics will call it unrealistic or naïve or wishful thinking, but I believe Flint could use more inspiration and idealism, even if not everyone will respond immediately.
If we only had more citizen activists like Tony Palladeno, for example. Readers will recall that this can-do eastsider’s community activism was highlighted in last month’s issue of The Uncommon Sense. Palladeno was the catalyst for the Citizens Nuisance Task Force, a group that gave new meaning to the notion of citizen action and initiative, so much so that their community clean-up efforts were co-opted and used for political purposes by the Williamson for Mayor campaign.
Palladeno’s success certainly attests to the fact that people can make a difference if they commit themselves to doing so. The question is: why don’t more Flint residents step up to the challenge? Part of the problem, of course, is that Flint is beset with so many problems—violence, blight, poverty, racism, illiteracy, unemployment—that the average citizen feels powerless to affect anything beyond his or her own doorstep. Couple this with the fact that many people and families in Flint find themselves suffering from varying levels of personal and economic distress, creating a recipe for inaction, disinterest, and apathy.
In my view, the other significant reason that the majority of Flint residents have not acted to make positive change is the culture of our community, namely our penchant for depending on others to take action for us. I am not the first person to suggest that this community has a dependency problem. We tend to look to others, whether it is the world’s largest car company, a millionaire mayor, or locally based philanthropic institutions, to solve all our problems. As Palladeno’s efforts point out, however, a renewal of active citizenship in Flint is not going to be brought about by one person or one institution. Rather, the solution will be found in the acts of many individuals all across the community. The solution for many of our problems is not some illusory savior. It’s us.
That said, what’s the best way to mobilize and coordinate people on behalf of the community? As President and CEO of the Resource Center, I know firsthand that most of the nonprofit organizations in this community recruit, train, and utilize volunteers every day. Their capacity to do so, however, is inherently limited. Besides, there are other volunteer opportunities, such as “neighboring,” that do not require volunteering through a formal organization. Furthermore, the client-focused work of nonprofits does not always translate into big picture changes in our neighborhoods.
In order to engage more Flint residents more effectively, I propose that the City of Flint use its unique position in the community to serve as a catalyst for increased citizen action. Taking a cue from other urban areas that have tackled the issue of citizen involvement, a good first step would be the creation of an Office of Neighborhood Renewal. The responsibility of this office would not be to solve problems for people, but rather to develop the capacities of people and neighborhoods to solve their own problems. Such an office, for example, could provide technical assistance, training, and resources that would strengthen existing block clubs, neighborhood associations, and neighborhood watches. The office could also work with residents to create these institutions where they do not already exist. If staffed by the right kind of people, this office could also take on the duty of identifying and training up-and-coming leaders at the grassroots level. These leaders would be given the tools they need to call a meeting, articulate a vision, marshal resources, and get things done. All of the activities of such an office would be geared toward building social capital—the glue that holds a community together—and making people less dependent on others, including City Hall, and more reliant on themselves and one another.
Another activity that the newly formed Office of Neighborhood Renewal could initiate and support is a citizen-driven, asset-based planning process in neighborhoods all across Flint. The asset-based approach, which has been used to good effect in communities similar to Flint, calls for local residents to identify and catalog all of the resources and assets present in their neighborhood (individuals with particular skills, informal groups and clubs, businesses, houses of worship, nonprofits, hospitals, public agencies, schools, etc). Strategies would then be developed that bring these assets to bear on a multitude of problems, from crime to blight to economic development. The process would be citizen driven with support from the City. A new master plan for Flint, based on the assets and needs identified by citizens, would be the result.
Such reforms will only come about if they are championed by visionary, inspirational leadership from City Hall. While the Mayor should not, and cannot, solve all of our problems for us, his office can uniquely serve as a catalyst for positive change and increased citizen involvement. Is there any better use of the city’s most preeminent bully pulpit?
Like many other urban areas that have staged successful comebacks, Flint needs to rekindle the passion of its people as a force for positive change and renewal. Ultimately, it’s Flint’s residents that need to step up, shake off feelings of dependency and despondency, and envision themselves as more than mere consumers of city services, but as individuals who have resources and assets that can be combined and leveraged to solve some of our most significant problems.
Only then will we turn mere residents into active citizens. |
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Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:02 pm |
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frank
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| I think this is a extremely insightful article... we need more idealism in flint. we need to move this city forward.... Thanks Dale |
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Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:17 pm |
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Phil Severs
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Yes, I agree (which is why I posted it).
If only we had the kind of leadership (i.e., Mayor) Dale is describing! |
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Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:51 am |
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ellwoodflint
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I love this article. I believe the biggest problem is that when citizens do get together, do try to make a change, we are shut down. No-one wants to hear somthing different. I believe the biggest problem is that we have lost the ability to have a discussion or conversation with-out an argument. In the past, some of a towns biggest issues were solved in town hall meetings. Everyone came not only willing to participate, but to be open to hear others thoughts and ideas.
How can we get back to small town thinking when the priority is to grow? |
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Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:18 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
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| This is another reason I think Flint should look back to the Past. By that 'm talking about getting the city together to work on a project completely based on volunteers. When the downtown streets had their first bricks laid. It was the People of Flint that came down and laid the brick. I believe having the citizens come together to do this again. Pull it all up, re lay a good foundation and then reset the same brick with some new added to replace old worn and broken brick. May have a positive impact to bring people together, work together for a common goal. Do something to help the city as a whole. Symbolic? Maybe. But that brick does need to be put down correctly. It is very uneven. While it is pulled up and the new foundation laid. City workers and utilities could be running new power lines and under ground sewers and water lines. Instead of always having to tear up the road to make small repairs. Redo it all at once. Wow, downtown could even get cable TV and Cable internet. Call me crazy, but that could be the thing to begin to bring people in flint together. |
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Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:17 pm |
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ellwoodflint
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i would support this, i think it would be a great idea for our teens also. perhaps give them a sense of ownership that they will respect.
how would we start somthing like that? |
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Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:01 pm |
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Joe
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| DALE FOR MAYOR! HE SHOWS GREAT POTENTIAL AND IS VERY SMART! HE IS A GREAT CANIDATE FOR MAYOR. SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN WORKING IN FLINT FOR YEARS NOW. NOT A NEW COMER! |
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Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:10 pm |
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Jim
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| DALE IS A GREAT GUY, ALWAYS HELPING FLINT! |
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Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:06 pm |
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| Dale is a terrible neighbor, and quite a few of us are anxiously awaiting to ask him in a public forum why he thinks he can be a good mayor when he can't even be a responsible neighbor. |
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Sat Jan 27, 2007 1:51 pm |
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TwLloyd
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It only takes one person to start some momentum in a neighborhood. We (my best friend and myself) are perfect examples. We bought an investment house a couple years back. It was the ugliest house on the block in a not so great neighborhood (Pasadena/Fleming area). Our goal is to rehab it and sell it to a deserving Flint family to finally have a home of their own.
Anyway, its been a slow process, only having weekends and maybe an evening here and there to work. We started by cutting back the overgrown foliage, etc. We piddled with our nickles and dimes we could scrape up to get the outside looking presentable. One weekend we showd up and noticed the neighbor had cleaned up their yard. We were amazed to see the size of their yard, we had no idea it was a double lot, because it was so overgrown before. The neighbor's house looked pretty good and all they did was clean up the yard.
A few months later we were able to cover the ugly house on the block with new vinyl siding. We went from ugly duckling to a swan overnight (ok, it took a couple of weekends to complete it being novices).
We noticed other activity on the block in the form of cleaning the yards, getting rid of the junk cars, painting the trim, etc. The block is looking much better. Even the house next door (on the other side) now has new vinyl siding, a new family living in it, and is looking great.
Are the neighbors keeping up with the Jones'? I hope so and it really makes us feel good that just maybe, we are the Jones' and the rest of the block was inspired by our ugly duckling.
We're still piddeling but finally almost finished and hopefully soon a deserving family will have a nice clean "new" home of their own. |
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Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:43 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
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quote:
Anonymous schreef:
Dale is a terrible neighbor, and quite a few of us are anxiously awaiting to ask him in a public forum why he thinks he can be a good mayor when he can't even be a responsible neighbor.
Care to tell us how??? Back up your remark?
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_________________
Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:32 pm |
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